1. Field of the Invention
The invention is related to the field of communications and, in particular, to delivery of SMS messages using SMPP protocol.
2. Statement of the Problem
Text messaging has become a very popular mode of communication in many mobile networks, such as a Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN). One example of text messaging is Short Messaging Service (SMS), which is a communication protocol allowing the exchange of short text messages (i.e., 160 characters) between mobile devices. Often times, mobile users more frequently use text messaging for communication than voice calls.
Short Message Peer-to-Peer (SMPP) protocol is a telecommunication protocol used for exchanging SMS messages between peer entities, such as Short Messaging Service Centers (SMSC) and External Short Messaging Entities (ESME). SMPP protocol defines a set of operations for the exchange of SMS messages between SMS peer entities, and defines the data that SMS peer entities exchange during SMPP operations. The entity submitting an SMPP operation is referred to as an SMPP transmitter. The entity receiving the SMPP operation is referred to as an SMPP transceiver. SMPP protocol is based on pairs of request/response Packet Data Units (PDU) that are exchanged between the SMPP transmitter and the SMPP transceiver. The SMS messages are encapsulated within the body of the PDU.
SMS spoofing is a technology or practice where a source address or an originating number in an SMS message is replaced with another number or alphanumeric text. SMS spoofing has both legitimate uses and illegitimate uses. For example, a legitimate use of SMS spoofing is to replace a source address in an SMS message with a company name so that the recipient of the SMS messages sees the company name. An illegitimate use of SMS spoofing is to replace a source address in an SMS message with a fake number to impersonate another person, company, etc. One problem in present mobile networks is that SMS spoofing is not effectively managed.